The dance was developed in the late 2000s and although it is danced with garlands it is not called Number 3 Garland as you might expect but simply “Number Three”. Like many of our dances the tunes used are key to the dance and each section’s distinctive figures and movements are inextricably linked to the character of its tune.
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The dance is divided into three distinct sections and has a recurring “step and turn” movement in the first and third sections which is a characteristic of many NW dances. The “step and turn” movement in this dance is the step used by the Wigan St John’s dancers and also teams in the Preston area in the late 19 th and early to mid 20 th centuries. It consists of 4 slow hop steps with the free leg raised with the thigh held parallel to the ground while turning 360°. It is followed by a back to back movement with (usually, but not always) partners.
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| The first section is danced to the Lange Wapper Zwaarddans tune and comprises five figures, each of which starts with a “Step Up”. In the first figure everyone dances the slow “Step Hop Turn” followed by a back to back with partners. The remaining four figures follow a similar pattern but with first corners dancing a distinctive movement while the second corners are dancing the step and turn. The figure is then repeated for second corners with the back to back passing left instead of right.
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"Corners" in Croston |
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The second section is called “The Italian Job” because it is danced to a carnival tune from Ponte Caffaro in Italy. It uses the Rumworth caper and is a progressive figure where everyone moves up or down the set until everyone is back in their original places It starts with everyone moving into a straight line to perform the caper then while the end dancers move round the set to the opposite end the other dancers perform a series of turns and capers to move up or down the set before everyone dances out to form 2 lines again. This is repeated until the set is back in original formation.
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The third section uses a tune from Galicia and the same step up and step and turn followed by back to back as the first section of the dance. However, the first back to back movement is performed up and down the set rather than across and the dancers finish it “Up in Fours”. The two figures in this section consist of a “Double Back to Back” and a “Quadrille Back to Back”.
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.After the final “Step Hop Turn” the dancers move out of “Up in Fours” into quadrille formation to perform the final “Cross Morris” figure. This is the usual Rumworth figure but danced to a tune from Dunkerque where it is played by the fishermen's bands at the annual carnivals.
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